I'm curious Sharpe, I don't think running a SATA cable to
that Qx2's enclosure's eSATA connection will work. So, did
you do it and did it work???

Hi BillB

I was hoping that using the adapter plugs I'd mentioned to convert from SATA to eSATA would allow me to use the OWC unit.

I haven't actually spent the money yet - so I'm still running two external eSATA connected drives - so far it's been darned reliable! I felt bad about hacking off the corner of my beloved Mini but I think it was a worthwhile upgrade. File operations are noticeably faster than FW400.

I also still have FireWire connected drives. If I can afford it I'd like to replace my Mini and external HDD collection with a new Mini and eSATA connected OWC/RAID unit. (Or Thunderbolt...)

My Mini has been set up with three external SATA cords (with the mini PCI express controller installed) and two drives connected through a SATA port (not eSATA). I now want to connect a third hard drive but the enclosure I used before (with a power supply and an internal style SATA port on the outside of the case) is no longer available. Any thoughts on an enclosure to use to connect to my SATA cable?

How about an eSATA to SATA male
cable. Doesn't require adapters. I found
some in a nice blue color. No longer have
the link. Sorry!

Ha! That would have been perfect!

In the end I never did buy an external RAID cabinet; I survived on external drives...

Now my beloved 2006 Mini has been semi-retired - it's a generic desktop for websurfing, email and some other random stuff. Apparently it'll never run Mountain Lion.

I splashed out and bought one of the new Minis! And next year I'll add a Synology DS412+ to my system. The eSATA drives also had firewire - so they're currently daisy-chained on the FW800 port (yes, it's a step down).

It's been a great experience - my 2006 Mini was a HTPC. Played all my ripped DVDs, iTunes media, YouTube, NetFlix streaming, Amazon Prime Instant Video etc with only a few hitches (usually due to Silverlight or Flash).